By James Kent
If you’ve ever lived in a small town, you understand its closeness. It’s more than the people who inhabit it; there’s a flowing sense of community woven into the fabric of the town hall, the post office, the school, shops, and restaurants—all the components of everyday life tighten together, securing its inhabitants. Thorton Wilder’s Pulitzer-prize-winning play from 1938 about one such community, a small fictional town in New Hampshire called Grover’s Corners, struck a nerve back then for its authenticity to life and the American experience—at least one example of the experience, and nearly 90 years later, the play continues to find relevance on stage.
Over the past weekend, the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph put on its version of “Our Town,” the production might as well have been a stand-in for the town that hosted the performance. Like so many rural Vermont communities, Randolph is one of those unique places where the town movie theater, a single screen in operation since the days of silent movies, proudly shows the latest Oscar-nominated film one week while preparing to show a civil engagement documentary the next. There’s the corner barber shop, the town library, a specialty food market, and a pharmacy. Time and technology have come to Randolph, but the downtown architecture still complements a mind’s journey to a nostalgic place where things moved a bit slower and community gatherings were more important than a social media post.
The action on Sunday afternoon, March 2, was at the Chandler Center for the matinee performance of “Our Town.” The center holds 500, and by the time the play began, nearly all 500 seats were filled. Looking around, it was clear the community of Randolph showed up to support the local artists putting on the production, from the cast to the crew and musical performers playing songs of a regional favorite, Noah Kahan. Settling into my seat and soaking in the room’s energy, thoughts crept into my head. “This could be the most Vermont thing ever.” And is that a bad thing? No. No, it isn’t.
“Our Town” is a three-act play, and director and star Ben Rapson makes an ingenious decision here. Each act begins with the entire company singing a Noah Kahan song on stage. The first act introduces the audience to the town and its inhabitants and begins with Kahan’s “Northern Attitude.” The second act, which deals with love and marriage, begins with Kahan’s “Call Your Mom,” and the final act, which covers death and eternity, begins with Kahan’s “You’re Gonna Go Far.” The genius behind these decisions is that the songs fit so well with the play; if you didn’t know any better, you’d swear they were written specifically for a new adaptation.
In addition to the songs, Rapson begins “Our Town” with a short video playing on the screen behind the company as they sing “Northern Attitude.” It’s a video about the Randolph community, which reinforces the connection between the themes of “Our Town” and Randolph. Although the play takes place over 12 years in the early 1900s, it’s relatable enough to look around the auditorium and see that hairstyles and clothes may change, but the people haven’t.
“Our Town” is most famous for its early use of breaking the “fourth wall.” The play’s main character is the Stage Manager, who speaks directly with the audience, introduces other experts to the audience, and even steps into different roles in the play. In my previous experiences with the play, I found the Stage Manager role a bit dry and straightforward, but Rapson, as a performer, makes an engaging, entertaining, and often funny Stage Manager, and he is the shining actor in the production.
Other standouts in the cast were Beatrice Scott, who gave a strong performance as Emily Webb, and Mark Rosalbo, who was excellent as Emily’s father, Mr. Webb.
But here is the thing: the beauty of this production of “Our Town” is more than rating the performances; it’s a celebration of local artists getting the opportunity to contribute to the community through the arts. There was excitement on the faces of the cast members seeing such a crowd show up to watch them perform this play, and there was pride on the faces of many in the audience whose son, daughter, cousin, mom, dad, aunt, or uncle was up there, on stage, doing their best to entertain them for a few hours on a Sunday.
“Our Town” is a touching experience, made more so because its content is reflected by those putting on the production and the surroundings of a town where the values of its denizens match those of Wilder’s play. There are three more opportunities to catch the Chandler Center of the Arts’ production of “Our Town” this Friday, March 7, Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9. Why not find your way to Randolph, and catch a performance? You can experience that town performing “Our Town,” and it will become your town for a few short hours.
James Kent is the publisher’s assistant and arts editor at The Mountain Times.
